Player Decks
Overview Raiders is a constructed format which means you'll want to create a deck ahead of time in order to use it. There are strict rules to follow during the creation of the deck, however, they only serve to bring out the creativity in each of us. You may have a deck that works great in standard, but some of the cards may not be legal or you may not be able to use 4 copies of each. Can you still pull it off and come out victorious with your team? Rules * Player decks, or raider decks, consist of a commander and at least 40 other cards within the color identity of the commander. ** A commander can be any legendary creature or planeswalker. ** If a commander with the partner keyword is chosen, a second commander with the keyword partner can be chosen as well. *** If there are more specific partner restrictions, like with Proud Mentor, they must also be followed. ** Although there is a 40 card minimum, there is no maximum limit. ** Mana symbols in reminder text such as extort, like with Basilica Guards , do not contribute to a commanders color identity nor do they restrict cards with regard to color identity. * A player's starting life total is 20+ their commander's toughness if it is a creature or their starting loyalty if it is a planeswalker. ** If a commander's toughness or loyalty is non-numeric, like with The Mimeoplasm, it is treated as 0 for starting life calculation. ** If a player is using two commanders with the partner keyword, they choose one commander to calculate their starting life total. * The table below describes the rarity and duplicate card count restrictions in addition to the following rules: ** Commanders are not counted when calculating deck size. ** Your commander's rarity is included when considering the total counts for cards of each rarity in your deck. *** If you have two commanders with the partner keyword, both of their rarities are considered individually. ** You do not need to use all of the card slots, you can certainly make a deck with each card, even your commander, being common. ** Decks with card totals not exactly matching the listed totals in the table below follow the restrictions for the next lowest deck size. ** Trade Down rule *** You may trade down cards of a higher rarity in order to add additional cards of a lower rarity, but you cannot trade up. To be more specific, you may trade down a mythic slot to use it as a rare slot instead. In addition, you can trade down a rare slot to use it for up to two additional uncommon cards.The parenthesis in the table show the maximum limit of a particular rarity when all cards of a higher rarity have been traded down. **** For example, if you were making a 40 card deck, you could trade down all of my rare and mythic cards to create a deck with 20 common cards and 20 uncommon cards. ** Cards with multiple printings are considered to be the rarity of their least rare printing. For example, if a card was printed as both a rare and a common, it can be considered a common for deck building purposes. ** Cards with the land type are considered to be one rarity lower than their least rare printing. For example, if a land was printed as a rare, it can be considered an uncommon for deck building purposes. Recommendations * Don't forget about the Lamb Rule; it is not necessary to have 24 lands in a 60 card deck. Use those slots for other card types!